#like for all we know he COULD be talking about a romantic relationship

[kiragecko]

I decided to do this for the Batfamily. (Preboot version, because I disagree with DC's modern decisions.)

If the Batfam were queer, how would they talk about it?

Dick - awkward and tentative. No clue when he picked up the terminology he's using, but it's probably pretty general/balanced¹. He's not going to be using microlabels, but may have done a reasonable amount of research on whatever term he's accepted. Possibly the most ashamed out of everyone? Look, people haven't been very gentle with him about his romantic, sexual, or personal choices. And he's internalized that. I could see him EVENTUALLY being comfortably open about his identity, but that would be a long journey.

Babs - only talks to romantic partners, if she can help it. Clinical. Probably also prickly. Maybe dismissive. More focused on how it will affect their relationship than on how it affects her, or on specific terms. But also the most likely to explain the split attraction model, or pull up a graph? Possibly she'd shift tactics based on what her partner was comfortable with. Probably it would be to tactics her partner was LESS comfortable with? Babs, make things easier for yourself!

Jason - What flavour of fanon are we using here? Or canon? Using slurs that the people he grew up used for themselves could be accurate. Reading up on all the latest terminology so he can support the street kids seems in character for some versions. (He sounds like he's reading from a brochure, but like he's a counsellor reading from a brochure for your benefit!) Not having thought about it at all because he's been 'somewhat' distracted for most of his life seems VERY likely! Jason contains multitudes.

Tim - avoiding this conversation at all costs. Refuses to use labels. Might describe his experience, awkwardly, if he needed to, but would get distressed if you tried to give it a name. He might be able to accept BEING some flavour of queer, but openly talking about it in ways people can use against him? That might affect social standing and job opportunities? That might disappoint authority figures? No. Most likely to use a fake identity to explore. Has almost certainly done all the research, KNOWS current terminology, and will use it for other people. Just don't suggest he applies it to himself.

Steph - Would probably get extremely attached to language when first accepting it. Maybe to the point of policing things a bit. Because she's defensive and has spent her whole life being policed and judged! MIGHT sound like she was reading out of a college brochure. Possibly DID read it out of a college brochure!

Cass - summarizes complex topics into a 2 or 3 word sentence, and if you aren't following along, that's on YOU. Might like listening to someone else explain their extremely nuanced identity. Might be impatient. It's a toss-up, depending on how obvious she thinks things are, how much you seem to be overcomplicating it, and how much she's picking up from HOW you're saying it. I hope she figures herself out before she learns TOO much terminology, because later Cass respected words a bit too highly, and I want her to be able to understand the fluidity of self without thinking it NEEDS boxes.

Damian - okay, preteen Damian doesn't WANT to know about any of this, thank you. Many preteens do! Damian does not. Damian wants to join in on every rape and hate crime investigation, and also thinks kissing is gross. Wrangling and protecting Damian is a challenge. Older Damian would probably use microlabels, if any applied. (And he felt safe saying anything.) Accuracy is always to be desired! Also, they fit his worldview of exceptionality and isolation.

Duke - I think he'd be pretty comfortable with general, broadly understood, terminology. But he might struggle if that stuff didn't fit. Feeling compelled to explain the nuances of self seems like something he'd find really uncomfortable? So I can see him casually talking about himself if it was easy to talk about, but struggling to be open otherwise. Also, he might get pretty stuck on not being SURE about his identity. How can he talk about it if he might be wrong?? (Tim and Dick might struggle in a similar way, but it would be less obvious because of their other issues.)

Bruce - Extremely likely to used old-fashioned or clinical language, especially if it lets him sound like he's reading out of a psychology text-book. Most likely to accept the language without internalizing the identity. (It might be accurate, but that doesn't mean he needs to ACT on it.) Also most likely to have accept-ED some term 25 years ago and then just never brought it up again or acknowledged it in any way.

Alfred - wouldn't talk about it at all. Relationships are private. If it was important to do so, would use euphemisms like 'close to', 'cared for', 'did a small amount of exploration', etc.

-

¹ I kind of think of modern queer identities coming in 3 broad categories:

general - uses language like 'queer', 'LGBT', 'nonbinary' - commonly understood umbrella terms. Prioritizes fluidity of identity and connection with community over precise description

balanced - prioritizes connection with people of similar experiences, uses broad subcategories like 'gay', and 'trans', or combines broad terms together to suggest more precision, like 'nonbinary lesbian'.

microlabels - breaks down identities into more precise subsets like 'greyace', 'fem-aligned androgyne', 'genderfae', etc. Precise understanding of self prioritized over other people's understanding or connection.

'Microlabels' as shorthand is often used to mock people, so I thought it helpful to explain where I'm coming from.

he would not fucking say that but it’s he would not fucking talk about his queer identity like he was reading out of a college campus lgbt center brochure

[barrenclan]

i feel a bit bad for cormorant :( im sure this isnt your intent but it almost feels as though hes settled for a life he didnt want

I'm curious what this is in response to - there's two major things I can think of, so let me explore them for a second!

So, if this is in response to the idea that Cormorantleaf wants kittens and Pinewing doesn't; lemme talk about that for a second. I tried to go into it in the last epilogue, but with their late-stage relationship I wanted to address a trope in fiction that really bothers me, especially as someone who doesn't want to have children. Stop me if you've heard it before:

Characters A and B are in a romantic relationship. Character A wants to have kids, but B doesn't, for whatever reason. They struggle, and talk about it, and eventually A says "it's okay, even if we don't have kids, I'll still love you!" It's really nice, and confirms that they love each other even if they don't want. Except, then, B turns around and says "it's so good to know that! It made me change my mind; I got over my 'fears', and now I do want kids!"

That bugs me. It's always the assumption, even if it's established that a relationship would be okay without kids, it's always on the onus of the person who doesn't want children to change their mind. It's never enough to stop at "it's okay if we don't have kids together" - and then they don't. So that's what I wanted to do with Cormorantleaf and Pinewing's relationship, and it's why I had Pinewing talk about his discomfort surrounding children so often and Cormorantleaf's potential to be a father. If Corm wanted kids more than he wanted to be with Pine - he could leave! No stopping him. But Pinewing matters more to him than having kids does. I find it more distasteful that someone would force themselves to raise children if they didn't want to (it's almost like that's a theme of the story... and kind of exactly what happened with Nightberry). Admittedly, I would've liked to rather do that idea with Daffodilcloud and Duncan instead of the main gay couple, but eh, I already had an end-of-arc theme with Daff to wrap up that would've clashed. These are the decisions you make when writing a story.

On the other hand, if this is in response to the idea that they're traveling around instead of settling down in one place, or that Pinewing is forcing him into the relationship; maybe I was a bit too subtle with what I was trying to get across. Cormorantleaf was actually the first one to suggest that they travel around together, way back in Issue 26:

Corm needs an emotional anchor more than a physical anchor. And this was especially clear in his early development, and how his relationship to Pinepaw was a bit unhealthy (and vice versa, too); he had such intense abandonment issues that he was holding Pinepaw up as a total pillar of support, and believed he wouldn't be able to survive without him.

That's why I wanted Cormorantleaf to have a chance to be on his own during the breakup, and solidfy that he could exist without a relationship, that he didn't need another person to survive. But instead that he could willingly choose a relationship with Pinewing, because it was something he wanted and something he thought would enrich his life rather than an obligation.

All that to say that Comorantleaf's hesitation in the last epilogue is not meant to be presented as "he's being forced into something he doesn't want by Pinewing", but rather "he's scared that them traveling around will cause Pinewing to abandon him, and that makes him panic and lash out".

And Pinewing would have absolutely stayed with him even after Cormorantleaf yelled at him, except that Corm happened to hit on Pinewing's own insecurities that come from his childhood of neglect and feelings that nobody actually wants him around:

You don't have to be un-anonymous to respond to this, and anyways if it's just personal feelings that's perfectly valid and not something I want to try and change. But I never meant to make it seem like Cormorantleaf wasn't happy with where he ended up, or that he 'settled' for something he didn't want.

[revelboo]

That Optimus cameo in Trailbreaker's last chapter fucking sent me. Any chance we could get an update on boss bot?

Sure!

Gravity Pt 13

Optimus Prime x Reader

• Draped against his chin, you study those serious optics. Wonder if stress and worry are all the big guy runs on, because those smiles are rare enough but so gorgeous. “Maybe the humans will mellow them out some,” you say and he groans, those pretty blue optics shuttering. Though to be fair, all you know about the Decepticons is that they’re the bad guys here. “I mean, you guys have been fighting for how long? Maybe they just really needed to get laid, you know?” Engine sputtering, he squints at you and he looks like he’s somewhere between trying not to laugh and indignant on behalf of those other humans. “Hey, humans survive. We’re like cockroaches.”

• Venting as you just grin down at him, he can’t understand your, well, it’s not quite optimism. He doesn’t know what this is. Jazz and Blaster are the earth experts, but Jazz is spending most of his time outside the Ark lately and he knows he needs to look into that, but even with the Decepticons being quiet, he’s been busy. There’s Hound and Trailbreaker’s attempt to preemptively save humans from getting abducted by Decepticons to deal with. When Red Alert had reported that to him having hysterics about there being more humans on the Ark, he just hadn’t had the energy to deal with it. Or to round up the Autobots with humans and try to talk about interspecies relationships. Especially since he’s been making love to you, though at least he’s the only one who’s intimate with their human.

• Boosting yourself up to sit on his chin, you grin down at his serious frown. “I mean fucking me is how you destress, right?” Bigger frown as he reaches up to run a servo against your spine. Reminding you that he’s a hopeless romantic. That it’s not just sex to him, despite that being what you insist to keep your heart safe. Because he’s so sweet and you know you’re in trouble as you stare down at those optics, getting lost in them as your heart aches. Know you’re lying to yourself about not falling for him. That you’ve already fallen down that rabbit hole knowing you’re going to get hurt.

• “It’s not like that.” At least not to him. Knows you’ve made it abundantly clear that you want nothing more from him, but he can’t accept that. Because this isn’t just interfacing or stress relief. Wants to come out of recharge with your warmth in his arms, to see that mischievous grin and hear you laugh every cycle. To watch you dance because it makes you happy. To dance with you. And he vents, freezing as you lay a hand on his cheek and drape yourself against his face. Realizing he’s falling in love with you. And wondering if you could ever love him or if there’s too many difference to bridge between you. That he’s already so lost in you.

• “Talk to me, big guy.” Because he’s doing the thousand yard stare he does. Lost in some thought or memory. And you gasp when he cups a hand against your back, rolling and mass shifting. Your back hitting the berth as his mouth comes down on yours. Kissing you with a desperation you’re not used to from him. Like he’ll die if he doesn’t. Not sure what flipped his switch, but more than willing to roll with it as his glossa steals inside to tangle with your tongue. All sweet urgency and need as you slip a little farther past the point of no return.

Previous

[lune-moon-nuit]

I was rewatching s2 and I tried to envision Mike being that attentive and sweet to Lucas or Dustin instead of Will—It doesn’t fit. It doesn’t feel right. It’s too much for their relationship because they ARE friends. Watching the whole scene where Mike comforts Will and holds his hand but picturing Dustin instead of Will is mind blowing. It’s crazy how clear the romantic intention of some scenes become when you replace Will with someone who is actually just a friend to Mike. Could Mike be sweet to Dustin and Lucas? Of course—but not like that. No way. His moments with Will are special because of Will and how Mike views him. Whereas you could remove Dustin and replace him with Lucas in a one-on-one scene with Mike and not have much change in terms of the overall feelings of that scene. The scene wouldn’t feel off. Their conversation wouldn’t feel out of place between them. They also don’t have many one-on-one scenes together whereas Mike has a lot with Will—the heart-to-heart in Mike’s basement on Halloween, spending the day at Will’s house, holding his hand, sleeping by his bed, staying at the hospital with him and telling him that choosing him to be his friend was the best thing he’s ever done. Mike is a kind person but it’s kinda hard to picture him doing all of that for Lucas or Dustin. Or to picture Dustin doing any of that for Will. Even if you remove both Mike and Will from the hand holding scene entirely and imagine Lucas and Dustin instead it still feels off. It’s too much. They don’t talk to each other that way because they are friends. Obviously they all love and care for one another but it’s so different for Mike and Will. There’s a level of intimacy with them that obviously is missing from the other friendships because they are friends. In s4, during the rink-o-mania fight, try to imagine Lucas stopping to argue with Will instead running after an upset Max. Or Lucas stopping Dustin to argue. Even Dustin and Steve have cute and sweet moments together but not like Will and Mike. I’d even say Dustin and Eddie had sweeter moments together than him and Steve but it’s still not the same as Will and Mike. Now add Nancy and Jonathan into any Will and Mike scene and it doesn’t feel weird or off. Not much changes. Or flip it and add Will and Mike into an intimate Nancy and Jonathan scene and again it feels fine. It works.

Every single scene between Mike and Will in season 2 is completely and undeniably framed with a romantic tone, and that’s precisely why it doesn’t work if you replace Will with Dustin or Lucas—but it does work if you replace Mike and Will with Jonathan and Nancy, who are a fully established couple.

We see Mike’s dynamic with Dustin and Lucas all throughout season 1, without Will, and even a little in season 2 with Will present—and the difference is obvious. Even before Will was back, it was already clear that Mike’s friendship with him was different compared to the other two, simply by the way Mike reacted to Will’s disappearance versus how Dustin and Lucas did. But season 2 only reinforces this distinction.

If you replace Will with a girl in season 2, you are literally watching a love story with explicitly romantic scenes. That’s why this dynamic cannot be replicated with Dustin or Lucas—their friendships with Mike are clearly, explicitly, and canonically confirmed to be 100% platonic. But that’s not the case with Will, because in their scenes, you can feel that this friendship is different, deeper than the others. We don’t necessarily have the words to define it, but we know that there is something there.

And the proof? Mike is one of the people chosen to help bring Will back from his possession. They could have asked Dustin and Lucas, who are also Will’s friends and have memories with him. And it's not about who was physically present at the lab—Jonathan wasn’t there either. Yet, for Joyce, Jonathan (and Hopper), it’s obvious that Mike has as much emotional power to reach Will as his mother and brother do. So they let him be there to talk to Will.

And they were right—because it’s Mike’s memory that weakens the possession enough for Will to start communicating. Even though his hands start trembling after Jonathan’s memory, that only shows that the possession is weakening, not that it’s breaking. It’s Mike’s words that actually break through and bring Will back enough for him to signal in Morse code with his fingers. You can see it in his expression—how his eyes shift, how his brows furrow, how he starts to whimper.

I’m getting off track, but yes—season 2 is so coded as romantic between Mike and Will that it’s painfully obvious. I even remember watching it this summer (before knowing anything about the later seasons or what the fandom says), and right after Mike’s monologue scene, I turned to my friend—who had already seen all four seasons—and said, “Are you sure there’s nothing going on between these two?”

[worthlessnepenthes]

So I reblogged this because it’s funny but then I thought about YQY for a second, and reblogged again so I could talk.

This isn’t going to be any new, profound thoughts for the fandom I’m sure but they’re new to me and I wanna talk for a minute.

I, personally, do not like YQY. I don’t HATE him, but I don’t like him. But I do feel sorriest for him, out of all the SVSSS and PIDW characters. I often forget that when he left SJ, he too was a literal child. Yes, he probably could have done better—told his master he needed help to save his brother, heck, told a fellow shidi or shixiong once he got to the peak. He was probably popular. I can’t imagine no one would have been willing to help him. But he was also a child, so I forgive him. He suffered and hurt himself, grievously, permanently causing himself a chronic condition in his attempts to get back to DJ. I don’t know that I think he did everything he COULD, but I do believe he did everything he THOUGHT he could.

And then Shen Jiu shows up, much like a feral cat, and constantly lashes out and hurts YQY. Their strained relationship is absolutely caused on both ends. It’s hard to say, ‘Well, YQY should have just KNOWN that SJ wasn’t going to the brothels to sleep with whores/didn’t kill LQG/wasn’t abusing Ning Ning/whatever other terrible things he was accused of,’ when SJ was, in fact, very verbally abusive and physically abusive to at least one disciple (lbh. Do we even get a canon reason WHY he hates him so much?), and verbally abusive to YQY, and to most likely many other characters.

However, maybe if YQY had actually stood up for SJ and said ‘No, this is a misunderstanding, this is not what happened,’ instead of just assuming that SJ had done whatever terrible thing and then covering for him in a sense of guilt, maybe things wouldn’t have been so bad. Or if YQY said, ‘take out your anger on me, it’s all my fault, but leave the others alone’. (It wasn’t, and SJ is wrong for acting this way.)

Honestly if they had ever fucking COMMUNICATED instead of just assuming the actual fucking worst of each other, while still deeply loving the other (in whatever romantic or platonic way they had, they loved the other) no matter whether they ever said it or not, a lot could have been avoided. Like PIDW YQY’s death.

Or hell, if Airplane had ever written about Xianxia mental health care instead of probably curing depression with papapa!

But the relationship between SJ and YQY is almost worse and more horrifying after SY comes through. YQY KNOWS it isn’t SJ, but every test they do show he isn’t possessed. So maybe it really is SJ, and all SJ needed to become happy was simply…to forget almost everything, but especially any time SJ and YQY spent together before they became Peak Lords.

So YQY is still trying to make it up to a person that he both thinks is there and thinks is not there, never knowing for sure. Every emotion he has towards this ‘new’ SJ feeling like a betrayal, ‘if only SJ could have acted like this before!’

Yeah. It’s really horrifying. He never gets the comfort of knowing for certain that SJ is gone, never gets to properly grieve and burn incense for him. But he also always feels just slightly off kilter with SY, and then feels guilt, because this is SJ! And even if it isn’t…what can YQY do about it?

YQY has many sleepless nights, wondering, after SY shows up.

I don’t like YQY, but I feel sorry for him. He is the most pitiful character in the book to me.

Shen Qingqiu, pissed off during a peak lord meeting: when I die I want Shang-shidi to lower me into the earth, just so he can let me down one last time

Shang Qinghua: bro c'mon

Yue Qingyuan, abruptly overcome by jealousy so intense that he's on the verge of a qi deviation: but I thought I was the one who let Xiao Jiu down the most...?

[daddyissuesbecauseofhotch]

Daddy issues || #6

{masterlist}

Let’s talk about a hypothetical boyfriend, who you’ll refer to as X. When you’re ridiculously in love with him, when you feel like he’s the one, the love of your life, there will be a life before and after X. You’re a true romantic at heart, you know how it goes in those movies and novels.

But to you, it’s different. There is no wall that separates your life before and after Aaron so drastically. There has been a shift in your everyday life and that’s it. On the weekdays, if he’s not God knows where for work, you go over to his apartment to spend the evening with him and Jack. On the weekends, you go to Jack’s soccer matches in the morning, but in the evening you go out with your friends.

Aaron doesn’t stop you; he never even tries. He knows you like to party, and he doesn’t want you to leave that behind just for him. You have a feeling he thinks you will change over time, but he doesn’t want to rush you, he doesn’t want to make you feel like he was trying to force you to change. Either way, you appreciate his patience and that big heart of his.

Tonight it’s just the two of you, because Jack is on a sleepover at a friend’s house, so your precious boyfriend decided to take this chance to do something out of the ordinary. Well, he wasn’t about to go to a club with you, you knew that, but he seemed pretty confident that you would like what he had in mind.

“Will you tell me where we’re going?” you ask, your eyes covered with a sleeping mask by the time Aaron starts the engine of his car.

“No.”

“Can I guess?”

“Sure.”

“Are we going to a hotel?”

There’s a beat of silence that tells you exactly what look he must have on his face right now, and you wish you could see it. “Why would we go to a hotel when we have the apartment all to ourselves?” he asks, sounding utterly confused.

It’s a valid question, you’re not surprised he doesn’t understand. “I don’t know, maybe you wanna roleplay. You know, a high-class escort seeing one of her top clients–”

At this, Aaron starts to laugh, a sound you found equally annoying and adorable. “What is possibly wrong with you, sweetheart? Where are these ideas even coming from?” You shrug. “Or that’s what you want to do?”

“No, no, I want to know what you planned for us,” you’re quick to say.

Maybe a little too quick.

Because once the car is in motion, he reaches out and puts a hand on your thigh, his long, thick fingers gripping it like it was the only thing keeping him grounded. Could it be that he liked the idea? It was a wild guess, a lighthearted joke, but now that it’s a possibility for the future, you can’t help but think about how fun this could be.

Neither of you talks for the rest of the ride, the silence that settled between you is too comfortable for that. It’s been a while on the road, but you couldn’t guess how much time passed without help. When he finally stops the car and turns off the engine, you hear him undo his seatbelt, which is followed by another light click as he moves on to yours.

As he leans over to your seat to guide the seatbelt to its place, he places a soft kiss on your bare shoulder. “You’re so beautiful tonight,” he whispers against your skin. “They’ll love you.”

They? Who is he talking about? Your confusion must be obvious, because he finally reaches out to take off the mask, then presses his lips to yours in a tentative kiss. You gulp, then bite into your lower lip before looking out the window. It’s a house. A really big one. But it’s a quiet neighborhood, it must be someone’s home.

“It’s Dave’s house. The whole team is here with their significant others if they have one, and I’d like you to meet them. They’re my second family in a way, so I want to show them the woman I love so much,” he says with a boyish smile.

The woman he loves? That’s… new. He has never said anything like this, and neither have you. Tonight’s the night when your relationship can take a much more serious turn if you agree to meet his colleagues. Until now, you thought it was just a casual thing between you two, but now you’re sure he wants more.

And so do you.

“Okay, let’s meet them,” you say with a smile.

[miraculouslbcnreactions]

Heck, the writers wouldn't have even needed to make it about identity shenanigans, even though that would've been preferable. There were two perfectly good Adrienette scenes they could've used: the cheek kiss in Mayura, and the second umbrella scene in Mr. Pigeon 72.

The problem here isn't so much Adrien and Marinette not having many good romantic moments to use as it is the writers not recognizing that there's a time and place for gags, and this isn't one of them. The show is just. Really bad with its management of tone. This is also where takes like "Marinette is a stalker" come from—the writers are trying to both derive humor from characters acting in absurd over-the-top ways and have moments of drama and angst that demand you empathize with those exact same characters. Those two things just don't mesh.

(Post that spawned this ask)

While I will maintain my stance that the Glaciator 2 confession scene is the best choice, I agree that there were other moments that made for quality choices. Mr. Pigeon 72's umbrella scene is a little too far from the crush flip for me to call it a great choice, but it's still a lovely parallel to when Marinette fell in love. If they'd gone with that, I'd have technical nitpicks, but no major complaints.

If I had to pick an Adrienette moment, I'd probably go for the start of Risk where Marinette saw that Adrien was upset when no one else did. That's close enough to the flip to make it feel like a solid choice and it fits a similar niche to Glaciator 2 with Marinette doing something that makes Adrien feel seen. Obviously he didn't know Marinette was talking about him in Glaciator 2, but her confessions was heartfelt enough that you could make him wish that it was about him. Wanting a confession to be for him is really all you need to make something as massive as a crush flip feel justified.

I also fully agree that the show struggles to balance comedy and drama/angst. A story can have both of those elements, but you need to be really careful about how you mix them. Miraculous is way too slapdash in its approach. Nothing is sacred, everything can be a joke, and that leads to a lot of viewers getting upset with characters like Marinette when she's used for a joke when it's completely inappropriate to tell one.

To go with the example from the post that spawned this ask, I would never have Adrien fall in love with Marinette during a moment like the statue scene. While this is him falling in love with her at her most quirky and I can see the appeal from that point of view, it's also making the moment he fell in love a memory that she hates! Generally speaking, that's a terrible call unless you're doing a meet ugly. (The way my partner met me was mortifying, btw, but it would technically work for a story because it was how we met. It's the start of the story. Picking a hated moment mid-relationship is just weird.)

If we compare the statue scene to Glaciator 2, we see that Marinette was at her most quirky in both episodes, but she wasn't embarrassed by it in Glaciator 2. She chose to show Chat Noir her fan girl side. That's part of why I like Glaciator 2 for the crush flip. It's a lovely balance of humor and romance. We see Adrien accepting Marinette at her most fan girl, but the moment where he starts to fall in love is the moment when she's her most sincere. Then you can bring the humor back in by having him be unable to confess that this is the moment when he fell in love, so he picks something ridiculous to tell Marinette while the audience gets to know that it was actually a far sweeter moment.

Of course, if I went this route, I'd have it lead to a reveal where Marinette got to learn the truth, too. That's the ultimate payoff for Adrien having to lie! I think the joke works even without the payoff so long as you play it lighthearted, but it works best when it's paired with an identity reveal in the not too distant future. That's the evergreen problem with identity shenanigans. A lot of them require a reveal to shine but I will be shocked if we get a reveal before the final season. They are dragging that sucker to the ground because of the rule that Marinette and Adrien must always have a secret between them. The identities is the setup the show is using to maintain the secrets and cause drama.

[monvirtu]

What about quackity and reader doing a wine stream ( they get drunk ) by the end of the stream they confess there felling for each other. It kindly reminds me of a the Spanish song of (no me mires con esos ojos )

𝐖𝐈𝐍𝐄 𝐒𝐓𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐌

⋆ precis ~ while it wasn't shocking you and quackity got drunk during a wine stream, the only thing that was surprising was when you both started talking about your feelings for each other.

⋆ tags ~ alcohol, kissing, use of quackity's real name, romance, and drunk fluff.

⋆ notes ~ thank you for the request, and i hope you enjoy!

to your viewers, it was never surprising to see quackity's name in your stream titles.

'PLAYING MINECRAFT WITH QUACKITY'

'IT TAKES TWO WITH QUACKITY'

'COOKING STREAM WITH QUACKITY'

it got to the point where it was a shock to not see his name pasted on their screens whenever you started a stream.

and just like all the other times, today was no exception.

laughter filled your office as you and quackity held wine glasses in your hands—the crimson liquid swirling in your cups while you both answered questions that filled the chat.

most of them were harmless. it was just people questioning you both about your lives, what things you liked, and what future plans you had for streaming. some were stupid, like asking what your favourite type of cheese was or what lego movie character you were.

but as the stream went on, and the wine bottle slowly grew empty, you stared to notice your chat getting more curious.

ilovemen3423: why are you and quackity always together? are you both dating?

BITEOF87KID: ARE YOU AND Q DATING???

sillybillies: do you and quackity have a romantic interest in one another?? perhaps a little relationship or a 'kiss the homies goodnight' fellow type of thing?

"alexis..." your words were mumbled as you drank from your glass, and his small hum rang out in question. "chat wants to know if we're dating."

"i wish."

"WHAT!?" quackity let out a loud laugh as you grinned widely—narrowing your eyes at him. "you're lying!"

"NO!? i actually wish that—like, every time i hear your name, i wonder what it would be like if we dated."

"what do you think it would be like if we dated?" you questioned, and you watched as quackity shrugged. "i mean, we could find out—"

you both fell silent before bursting into a fit of laughter—the alcohol hitting your mind a bit harder than it usually did. though, you didn't understand why you thought it was funny. it wasn't. he just admitted to liking you, but maybe you just thought it was funny because you didn't believe it. he was drunk.

but even if he was drunk, it had you questioning what it would be like if you both dated.

you stared at him as you leaned against your armrest—examining him.

it's not like you hadn't noticed him before, but now that you looked more deeply at him, he was fairly cute. his eyes were a deep brown—just like his hair. speaking of his hair, it looked good in a beanie, but you liked it better when he didn't have a hat on.

he was also sweet, and funny. you both had a lot in common.

you both had been friends for a while.

would it hurt to give it a shot?

your thoughts were cut off as you heard quackity let out a breathy chuckle, and you could only stare at him in confusion before he spoke.

"stop staring at me with those eyes, amor..." his words were slightly slurred as he took another sip from his glasses—his eyes never leaving yours.

you didn't understand why he was commenting on how you were staring at him when he couldn't even look away from you. his eyes were coated in a gleam of admiration, and he peered at you as if you had just given him the world on a silver platter.

"with what eyes?" your sarcastic remark only earned a drunken smile from him as he placed his glass down on your desk, and he leaned towards you in his chair before tilting his head.

"like you wanna kiss me..." his taunting words trailed as his lazy smile slightly faded—his eyes falling into a lidded gaze before they flickered to your lips. "do you wanna kiss me, amor?"

yes.

no.

definitely.

maybe.

you didn't know.

you stared at him for a minute before you placed your glass next to his—the glasses clinking together as you hummed. "i don't know..."

"well, i know. i want to kiss you, and you should kiss me."

"you're only eager to kiss me because you're drunk, alexis." you words earned a frown from him—though, it looked more like a pout as you slightly smiled.

"drunk words, sober thoughts."

a laugh left your throat at his statement, and while you thought he was joking, the serious expression on his face shut down that thought.

"please, amor? if you're okay with it..." his words seemed so saddened as he asked to make sure you were content with his words, and you could only let out a quiet sigh. "you do realize this is going to get clipped, right?"

"i don't care." he mumbled while you shifted your chair closer to his, and his eyes lit up while one of your hands cupped his cheek.

"you say that now—"

"and i'll say it until the day i die. can you just kiss me now?" you smiled at his question before you placed your lips against his, and you could practically feel quackity melt into the kiss while one of his hands placed itself on the back of your head. the other one grabbed your free hand as he gently squeezed it.

the taste of wine on his lips was evident as you eventually pulled away, and your eyes glanced at his tinted lips due to the alcohol.

"does this mean that you like me back?" quackity blurted out the question while you let out a snicker, and he frowned at you as he gently squeezed your hand. he wanted an answer.

"yes, it does, alexis."

a wide smile replaced his frown as he pulled you closer—your chairs being pressed against the other while quackity wrapped his arms around you.

"can i stay over here tonight?"

"only if you help me clean up after stream."

quackity fell silent for a moment as he slowly turned to look at the camera. "i forgot about that—"

but he surely wouldn't forget it tomorrow when you and quackity's name were trending on almost every social media platform.

©𝐌𝐎𝐍𝐕𝐈𝐑𝐓𝐔𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟓

writings are to not be reposted, translated, or plagiarized. if you wish to show your love for my work, feel free to reblog, comment, or like.

[fascinationstreetmp3]

Sometimes I fear they won't do devil's minion at all. Armand won't call Daniel beloved and like the turning- the turning was said to be done in spite where in the books there was at least some love, something that made Armand say they will be in hell together after all. I feel like there is a possibility that in the show hell together means like a thorn lodged in the throat. You can't ignore it and you can't get rid of it. That will hurt a lot if they do that.

im sure dm will definitely be romantic in the show at some point, it's just a case of how they get there because things are obviously different from the books.

i myself am keeping an open mind about the whole "spite" thing tbh. that descriptor does not come from armand or daniel, it comes from louis, who was not there— and in my opinion, daniel sorta dodges addressing it any further when louis brings it up, and there could be multiple reasons for that (he doesn't want to talk about it? or maybe there's more to it he isn't letting on right now?)

just throwing things out there but if it WAS entirely spiteful, but past dm happened, it's possible they could also utilise daniel's book turning scene for the "memory wipe", framing that as armand's act of love in order to save daniel's life, which would balance things out a little more. either way i think we WILL see the turning no matter what anyone says

where they are now with each other, the writers might take inspiration from the sort of push/pull they have towards 1985 in qotd, along with the long period of separation they have after qotd and the regret armand feels for turning daniel. daniel feeling resentful towards armand (for turning him? for messing with his and louis' memories? for leaving him all alone?), but unable to stay away for long; armand believing he has made a horrible mistake and trying to stay away while also dealing with the fact that daniel destroyed armand's relationship with louis, but he and daniel are bound together now and the maker/fledgling connection sometimes seems to be a lot stronger in the show, even between "strangers" as displayed by madeleine & louis being able to "feel" one another

i think show daniel seeing armand at his lowest, knowing what he can do to people and what he has done to him, will play into the way daniel sees armand in the books: a terrible creature capable of great evil who daniel is drawn to and loves for who he is, and armand gets to be perceived outside of the roles he's always playing by someone he doesnt have to control or lie to (and cant, really). for how they get to the love part... im curious to see how it will go because there's a lot of ways it could happen. i'm just certain they will get there. they might feel stuck in "hell together" at first, but eventually hatred won't be the only thing that binds them together (if it ever was the 'only' thing between them in the first place)

maybe tangentially related but ive seen people suggest rolin jones has some sort of dislike for dm or that he just straight up doesn't care/wasn't planning on including it, and of course i have no clue what's going through his head but i have to disagree. a deeper relationship between armand and daniel has only been hinted at right now; pieces of a puzzle slowly make themselves known, and the audience has to notice them and put the puzzle together with what they've got so far. just because something's in the books doesn't mean theyll just talk about it openly, its still a show spoiler. which means outside of the show (in interviews etc) it's only going to be acknowledged as a "thing that happens in the books", yknow? just like book characters that havent appeared yet, the way theyll be portrayed in the show isnt discussed. kinda why i think they got king of spoilers eric bogosian to drop the "budding romance" line in those sdcc videos from a while back because to me... that technically is a show spoiler lmao

[nodutra19]

This might be my favorite episode in the whole series. Though I don't play "favorites" for the most part and just look at things as a whole, rather than through rankings.

By critiquing patriarchy and gender, RGU necessarily critiques hero worship. Now, I haven't actually studied up on hero worship just yet. It's an idea I became familiar with after reading The Pike by Lucy Hughes-Hallett. After BHM, I'm gonna read three of her other books, starting with Heroes: Traitors, Saviors, and Superman: A History of Hero Worship. Maybe I'll write about RGU and hero worship by the middle of next month.

In particular with this episode, and as has been built over time, is the idea of "special people." A few episodes ago, Akio waxes poetic over how "special" Utena is, and how special people don't know they're special. There's a few layers to that, but here I wanna focus on the hero worship aspect in terms of Souji/Nemuro.

I've loved this episode for a very long time. It truly feels like a wrinkle in time and space. It gives me nostalgia for a where and when I never laid personal witness to. Last year around this time I read American Prometheus: The Triumph and Tragedy of J. Robert Oppenheimer by Kai Bird and Martin J. Sherwin. The very first chapter has the quote:

Around the globe, scientists were soon to be celebrated as a new kind of hero, promising to usher in a renaissance of rationality, prosperity and social meritocracy. In America, reform movements were challenging the old order. Theodore Roosevelt was using the bully pulpit of the White House to argue that good government in alliance with science and applied technology could forge an enlightened new Progressive Era.

For some reason I never drew this connection to RGU until today. It did tickle me on my rewatch last year but still.

"Genius." What a loaded word! I've read about geniuses, from Marx to Oppie to Tolstoy to Nabokov and now to W.E.B Du Bois, and they were all just as foolish as they were intelligent! I think we see here a sort of prefigurement to Akio and his relationship to Prince Dios. Literally they are the same, but Prince Dios lives on as a separate image to which Akio aspires because 1.) He wants to regain lost time and 2.) These are the demands of patriarchy.

But that's all it really is: an image. An idea. A rotten ideal in white. "But is that what she really wants?"

In this case, Professor Nemuro somewhat does fit the mold of a "genius." A genius is an odd person, a disconcerting changeling. A Byronic solitary figure who "doesn't fit in," who "stands out," who "comes into your life like a hurricane." They're a little beyond human ken. They are a "god among men." They are often "hard to work with." And the worship is just as cultic and religious as all these romantic phrases imply.

Of course, most of their contemporaries think lesser of them than what subsequent myth making would imply. In the case of Marx, he could be a bit grumpy (and was a D1 bum in the funniest sense. An iconic debt shuffler) and had terrible handwriting. You'll often hear people say "Smart people think so fast they can seem rude" or "Have bad handwriting." Behaviors and traits that would otherwise be pathologized are at least excused if not embellished if someone is a "genius."

I think there are other layers to this stuff, especially, I imagine, for those who are ace and aro, but I dunno enough about that to get into the weeds about it.

To bring things real close to RGU, I remember some years ago getting into a conversation with some several years older than me. They were an immigrant, and so I helped them with dealing with the culture shock they were facing. Eventually we got to talking about generations, and they said "I think this generation [referring to mine, Gen Z], will change the world. If more people were like you, things would be better." I was obviously flattered, especially the second bit, but the first bit had always bothered me. As I'm reading through David Levering Lewis's biography on W.E.B Du Bois for BHM, I'm reminded of how Du Bois came up with the idea of the "Talented Tenth." They were essentially the Black Vanguard who would lift the Black race up. Later on, however, he revised it to the "Guiding Hundredth," which attempted to democratize the idea and expand racial lines to something more intersectional. Having gained this knowledge after that conversation, I realize why I was bothered by what that person said: it seemed another form of idolatry. Changing the world isn't the work of a chosen few predetermined by a secular mandate of heaven (In Oppie's time, it was scientists. Nowadays, the "heroes" are entrepreneurs and venture capitalists), it will involve all of us, of all walks of life.

My thoughts are very soupy on this subject, so pardon if I seemed rambly and unfocused.

I'll at least leave a few quotes:

I've become convinced that genius is a vastly overrated commodity. I think this country is full of geniuses, guys and gals so bright they make your average card carrying MENSA member look like Fucko the Clown. And I think that most of them are teachers, living and working in small town obscurity because that's the way they like it. —Stephen King Insomnia

To hell with the philosophy of the great men of this world! All great wise men are as despotic as generals and as rude and insensitive as generals, because they are confident of their impunity. —Anton Chekhov, after souring a bit on a late controversial play by Tolstoy. As translated by Rosamund Bartlett

Genius…means little more than the faculty of perceiving in an unhabitual way. —William James The Principle of Psychology

That last quote is part of the epigraph of the Du Bois biography I'm reading. So rn I got a lot on my head about geniuses, professors, heroism, hero worship, masculinity, etc.

For Marx and Tolstoy, I recommend the biographies Love and Capital: Karl and Jenny Marx and the Birth of a Revolution by Mary Gabriel and Tolstoy: A Russian Life by Rosamund Bartlett (along with her excellent translation of Anna Karenina)

Fansub release + translation notes for Utena ep 22!

さすがに何でもよく知ってるわね。でもそれだけの情報網があるなら、早く奴らの正体も突き止めて欲しいわ。

You know everything, don’t you Juri? With such a vast intelligence network, I wish you’d hurry up and find out these people’s true identities. (literal translation)

You know everything, don’t you Juri? I wish you'd put your little birdies to work finding out just who is behind this. (final translation)

情報網 (jouhoumou) is an interesting word to use here! It literally means “intelligence network”, so Nanami is implying that Juri has a bunch of spies feeding her everytthing that happens at the school. To actually use the word “intelligence network” sounds a little but out of place in English though, so I rephrased the line a little to sound more conversational and accusatory.

Boy: しばらく消えないでしょうね、根室教授。 Nemuro: ん？なんだい？ Boy: 雪の事ですよ、教授。

Boy: Won't disappear for a while still, eh, Professor Nemuro? Nemuro: I beg your pardon? Boy: I was talking about the snow, Professor.

There’s a double meaning in the first line here — the boy could reasonably be talking about the Professor himself not clearing out for a while. That was actually my original phrasing: “Won’t clear out for a while” but Anya suggested “disappear” which is actually much closer to the original Japanese phrasing so I changed it to that. I think this exchange preserves that passive aggressive dig at the Professor pretty well!

あの人は花が散るのを見たくないんですよ。こうすれば短い命の花も少しは長持ちさせることができる。でも、こうまでして永らえても花自身は嬉しいんでしょうか？

She hates it when the petals begin to fall. This way even a short-lived flower can be made to last a little longer. But… I wonder how the flowers feel about their existence being prolonged like this.

This is one of my favourite exchanges in the show! I think this really emphasises how Japanese sentence structure and general way of phrasing things differs drastically from English. A literal translation of the first sentence would be something like “That person does not want to see flowers scatter”. Each part of the sentence sounds weird if translated individually:

あの人 - “that person” being used because Japanese prefers that phrasing to third person pronoun “she”.

花が散る - “flowers scatter” is the most natural way to say “petals fall/die” in Japanese but sounds very odd in English

見たくないんですよ - “does not want to see X” also sounds very funny when translated directly to English, but simply conveys the idea that she doesn’t like seeing something happen.

When taken as a whole, complete idea though, the sentence can easily be translated into something that sounds natural in English: “She hates it when the petals begin to fall.”

The hardest part of this to translate was the last sentence. I originally had translated it like this: “So much work to make them last, and yet I wonder if the flowers themselves are happy.”

こうまでして - to go this far/to put in this much effort/to put in this much work. However, this is more of a tone setting phrase than a meaning carrying phrase, so it’s okay not to translate it directly.

永らえる - to prolong something’s lifespan. This is hard to translate because while the phrasing works in Japanese, the preserved flowers are actually dead. So you can’t translate it as “I wonder how the flowers feel about being made to live so long” or something of that ilk. My original translation of “make them last” works, but I prefer the final translation of “existence being prolonged”. It sounds more applicable to Mamiya’s situation, and this exchange is all about that metaphor.

永遠に憧れる心が美しく思えたりするだけだ。

(lit.) We just think of a heart that longs for eternity as beautiful. (??)

We just romanticise the idea of eternity.

Another great example of Japanese phrasing that sounds super weird when translated directly, but can sound very natural when the core idea behind the words is translated properly. “Romanticise” is such a succinct one-word translation of the several word phrase 「憧れる心が美しく思えたり」!

Thank you to my amazing editor @dontbe-lasanya for their help with the episode as always!

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Rose divider taken from this post.

[biblicalhorror]

Haven't wwdits posted in awhile but I just wanna say it would be. so funny if nandermo wasn't made canon in the final season. after all of That.

[thanatologie]

anyone that says emmrich never actually faces his fear isn't actually paying attention. hear me out, okay, i've talked before (so many times) about how i think for emmrich his fear of death is less actual thanaphobia and more...his fear of being alone. of living alone, of spending eternity alone - especially in a culture and a society that places emphasis on lovers being buried together; he's terrified of it. and a romanced emmrich is so terrified of his relationship with rook - and how he feels - that he's willing to try to end it on the eve of a battle one or both of them might not come back from, because he's worried it might not be the big damn love story he's been aching for his whole goddamn life.

and guess what! rook doesn't come back.

he spends almost a month making that damn dagger - and like the rest of the crew - trying to find rook to pull them out of the fade prison because he's lost them. he's lost them right after realizing his fear's gotten the better of him and he's staring down the barrel of eternity without them. he was already trying to backpedal the whole thing before solas pulled his switcheroo and you know rook telling him they'll talk about it at home was like...a constant refrain in his head that whole almost month they were lost.

(which raises a good point with the mortal vs lich path in this respect, because a mortal emmrich was ready to tear open the fade to get rook back, imagine how many lines a lich emmrich might cross, especially given his line about never letting them be parted in this or any other world again. i have thoughts about how emmrich doesn't come back wrong from that, no, but he definitely comes back changed, he's...off. i've seen speculation that lich emmrich isn't emmrich - which i don't buy - or isn't entirely emmrich - which is a little more interesting and there may be some truth to the latter, or it could be he thinks he's indestructible at that point and gets really reckless and less measured but that is another argument for another time.)

and basically the point i'm leading up to here is...you can complain all you want that he never uses the l word before the final battle, but even with harding pointing out he's gotten a little spacey and distracted and mopey with a relationship on the burner, and all the other pet names he uses so damn liberally (dearest, darling, flame of my heart), he's still holding a lot of stuff back. he's still holding himself back, quite a bit, until that moment when he finally (finally) tells rook he loves them. he never calls rook my love until after the fade prison in the mortal path, and it's just the once, as far as i can actually remember. and it's because of all of that shit above.

(lich emmrich does it earlier, because that this may be my last chance to say it comes a hell of a lot sooner, and he uses my love liberally after that point.)

this is intentional on his part. this man has skirted around using the word love so much ("very fond of you" my ass) that rook totally has the option to call him out on it and it's like a record scratch.

he's, i think, terrified of loving something that can die? and he's terrified of being alone. and ultimately a romanced mortal emmrich has to face both of those things, one after the other, between manfred and the fade prison. and i think, going forward, it's not going to be completely gone - in fact for a hot minute after everything it's probably exacerbated to a large degree and he's probably extra...like that for a while - but it makes him confront those things head on in...very blunt ways. here's a reminder of what losing someone you love deeply to death feels like. here's what losing someone you've given your heart to for safekeeping feels like. it's kind of disingenuous to claim his fears are left untouched, when he's given a one-two knock out punch and is left having to deal with the fallout of that.

eta: and none of this actually touches on the fact that it's him that tells rook to grab the dagger before they go poof, so he's siting with that constant weight on his chest, too, but we'll dig into that at a later time because it's cold and my fingers are starting to get stiff.

[widevibratobitch]

Ok, drop your favourite characters and ships from the Three Musketeers, queen. <3

the answer is pretty simple actually <3

Aramis is my babygirl, my murder kitten, my favourite little princess, my rotten soldier, my sweet cheese... truly one of the characters of all time. to me. and he ages like fine wine - the older, the more cruel and ruthless and cunning and evil he gets, the better.

im a die-hard Athos/Aramis truther 🙏 i also adore the whole thing Aramis and Madame de Chevreuse have going on, especially their fucked up little divorce in the last book, it's insane and i'm obsessed with it. I do also think Aramis and d'Artagnan are long overdue for some quality hatesex sesh! and none of these are mutually exclusive, the opposite actually. basically i live for and breathe the entire d'Artagnan/Athos/Aramis/Marie drama. it's everything to me <333

[theoreticalli]

I put 30 tags on that dear evan hansen post. for the love of god don't click to expand the tags I'm so fucking sorry I just hate that awful fucking show so fucking much. oh fuck I've done it again in the tags here oh god

[callixton]

wow i think if i rewatched company rn i would have some sort of breakdown

[puppmeo]

Have you ever been assumed to be romantically attracted to someone and even just the thought of that makes you want to throw up . Anybody